Towed systems are used in a variety of applications, for example, advertising, exploration, scientific study, and military defense. In a typical application, an air or seagoing vessel will tow a desired system behind the vessel via a tow cable, for example, an advertisement or a sonar array. When the vessel is going a sufficient speed, the drag induced by the system and the tow cable cause sufficient tension on the tow cable to minimize the droop (the vertical height between the attachment point of the tow cable to the vessel and the back of the tow cable or towed system). However, as the speed of the vessel decreases, the induced drag on the towed cable also decreases causing the droop to increase, thus limiting the operational conditions of the vessel while towing.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for systems and methods to increase the operational conditions of vessels performing towing operations.